We propose a theoreticalpractical model called theory of ludofictional worlds, inspired by the semantics of fiction and possible worlds, and which is. In particular, possibleworld theory provides a useful vocabulary and conceptual framework with which to describe such worlds. Discussion of lars gyllenstens paper possible worlds a chorus of a multitude of souls. Possible worlds have also been used to give a semantics for counterfactual conditionals, though this. Verisimilitude and fiction at the university of mon treal. In this book, we propose a model, inspired by the semantics of fiction and possible worlds, which is oriented to the analysis of video games as integrated systems. If theres no logical structure to impossible worlds, then we might do as well to model an agents knowledge using an arbitrary set of sentences, as in konolige 1986. Dole els book is the first systematic application of this idea to the theory and philosophy of history. Possible worlds theory and contemporary narratology by alice. A statement in modal logic that is possible is said to be true in at least one possible world. Let us say that possible worlds are concrete if they are constructed out of concrete entities like human bodies, rocks, plants, and artifacts, together with properties of such entities.
Possible worlds, artificial intelligence, and narrative theory guide. Possible worlds semantics and fiction springerlink. Possible worlds semantics and fiction, journal of philosophical logic, 35. This is because a literary text houses its own system of modality, consisting of actual worlds actual events and possible worlds possible events. Roger scruton possible worlds and premature sciences lrb. This book discusses the metaphysics of impossible worlds and applies the concept to a range of central topics and open issues in logic, semantics, and philosophy. The hardcover of the possible worlds of fiction and history.
Possible worlds can tie together two sets of problems and show their interrelations for instance, that a conditional on the linguistic level can be described as constructing a counterfactual world. More than 1 million books in pdf, epub, mobi, tuebl and audiobook formats. This study substantially enriched literary theory by linking it to the modal logic of possible worlds. Possible worlds theory in literary studies uses concepts from possible world logic and applies them to worlds that are created by fictional texts, fictional universe. Dolezels book is the first systematic application of this idea to the theory and philosophy of history. Possible worlds presents the first uptodate and comprehensive examination of one of the most important topics in metaphysics. The theory of fictional worlds considers fictional worlds to be specific kinds of possible worlds but, at the same time, fictional worlds are determined by their specific qualities. Beginning with a discussion of the extant semantics and pragmatics of fictionalityby leibniz, russell, frege, searle, auerbach, and othershe relates them to literature, literary theory, and narratology. Kripkes modal logic first defines each possible world by a maximally. The semantics of modal logic arose in the following way.
It is often contrasted with the way things actually are. Girle 2003 and girle 2000 are introductory textbooks on formal possible worlds semantics in modal logic. Pws was originally focused on the important concepts of necessity and possibility. Thus, fictional worlds of the traditional media are transformed into ludofictional worlds, spaces rich in characters and emotions that are especially affected by the intervention of a player. The canonical version of possible worlds semantics for story prefixes is due to david lewis. Similarly, logical, mathematical, metaphysical, biological, etc. Project muse possible worlds of fiction and history. The last of all possible worlds download ebook pdf, epub. Metaphysical foundations of modal semantics ebook written by robert stalnaker. An impossible proposition need not be equated with the empty set of worlds, for it may be a set which includes only impossible worlds.
Modal metaphysics internet encyclopedia of philosophy. In possible worlds semantics, p is physically possible if there is an accessible world at which p is true. Beginning with a discussion of the extant semantics and pragmatics of fictionality by leibniz, russell, frege, searle, auerbach, and others he relates them to literature, literary theory, and narratology. The idea is that talk of possible worlds is too useful to modal semantics to.
Beginning with a discussion of the extant semantics and pragmatics of fictionality. Professor eco uses it to introduce the latest and most fashionable developments in modal logic in particular, the theory of possible worlds. Possible worlds semantics university of notre dame. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. In his 1975 article possible worlds in literary semantics further developed in his 1986 book fictional worlds, he sees in the concept of pw a. A semantics for modal logic was first introduced in the late1950s work of saul kripke and.
In philosophy and logic, the concept of a possible world is used to express modal claims. Leibniz used the concept of a possible world in his proposed solution to the theological problem of the existence of evil, arguing that an. From this groundwork, the theory of possible worlds became a central part of. In the paper we will study the notions of possibleworlds semantics, fiction, and creativity. A writers perspective billeskov jansen, frederik julius pages 293301. However, impossible worlds allow for finegrained distinctions unavailable in standard possible worlds semantics. This paper reassesses lewiss theory and draws attention to some novel problems for his account. Possible worlds theory and contemporary narratology by. Possible worlds semantics and fiction researchgate. While that perspective is a valuable one, there is a more direct one in which the accessibility relation is just some subset of the cartesian product of worlds.
This is the guiding idea of possible worlds semantics. The theory of fictional worlds considers fictional worlds to be specific kinds of possible worlds but, at the same time, fictional worlds are determined by their. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read mere possibilities. Possible worlds of fiction and history johns hopkins.
The notion of possible worlds has played a decisive role in postclassical narratology by awakening interest in the nature of fictionality and in emphasizing the notion of world as a source of aesthetic experience in narrative texts. Kripkean modal semantics offers what could be called a distant model for the theory of fiction. In fiction, the principle of simultaneity, it extends to cover the dimensional aspect, when it is contemplated that two or more physical objects, realities, perceptions and objects nonphysical, can coexist in the same spacetime. Heterocosmica johns hopkins university press books.
Contemporary science fiction books, where monsters appear to. As a model for narrative semantics, pw theory is applicable to both fiction and nonfiction. Literary fiction is probably the most active experimental laboratory of the worldconstructing enterprise. In the meantime, philosophers working in formal semantics were making brief allusions to the resemblance of possible worlds to stories adams and to books plantinga as a way to solidify the concept. The intention is to show how the notion of possibleworlds semantics allows us to generate a fresh interpretation of the notions of fiction and creativity. Dolezels book is the first systematic application of this idea to the theory. Possible worlds in logic philosophy stack exchange. In particular, possible world theory provides a useful vocabulary and conceptual framework with which to describe such worlds. If we use extension as a label for the reference of an expression so that the extensions of names are objects, and the extensions of simple predicates are functions from objects to truthvalues we can introduce intension as a label for an expressions reference across possible worlds. To do this, we have to consider the philosophy of logic. Semantics, possible worlds routledge encyclopedia of. Possible worlds hence work in philosophy as a theoretical model whose explanatory power results from its hosting and linking two orders. The result scarcely makes sense, and it appears to me that the author may well be aware of this. Possibleworlds semantics reveals that possible worlds of fiction and possible worlds of history differ in their origins, cultural functions, and structural and semantic features.
Possibleworlds semantics reveals that possible worlds of fiction and possible. Possible worlds semantics is also used in a narrower sense, to refer to formal kripke semantics for modal and other logics. Leibniz used the concept of a possible world in his proposed solution to the theological problem of the existence of evil, arguing that an allperfect god would actualize the best of all possible worlds. As a theory concerned with the opposition between the actual. So the physical accessibility relation should be compatibility with the laws of physics. The worry is that unconstrained impossible worlds semantics makes no real progress over this purely syntactic approach jago 2007, 2009. Possible world, conception of a total way the universe might have been. Semantics, possible worlds routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. One is that in talking of stories such as the pwf possible world fiction, the. Apr 02, 1998 literary fiction is probably the most active experimental laboratory of the worldconstructing enterprise. Preliminary motivations fictional worlds semantics builds to a considerable extent on the notion of possible worlds used by logical semantics.
Possible worlds, artificial intelligence and narrative. Possible worlds semantics pws is a family of ideas and methods that have been used to analyse concepts of philosophical interest. Possible worlds are ersatz if they are constructed out of entities of different kinds, such as fregean propositions or interpreted sentences. The book is a highly effective overview and response to the literature on modal metaphysics. Possibleworlds semantics can be used in interpreting modal notions. Questions about modal logic, possible worlds, probability. Roger scruton possible worlds and premature sciences. The canonical version of possible worlds semantics for story prefixes is due to. Beginning with a discussion of the extant semantics and pragmatics of fictionality by leibniz, russell, frege, searle, auerbach, and others he relates them to literature, literary th. Specifically, in possible world semantics, the modal operators are.
Possible worlds semantics reveals that possible worlds of fiction and possible worlds of history differ in their origins, cultural functions, and structural and semantic features. Possible worlds semantics and fiction article in journal of philosophical logic 351. John divers considers the prevalent philosophical positions, including realism, antirealism and the work of important writers on possible worlds such as david lewis, evaluating them in detail. Fictional worlds semantics builds to a considerable extent on the notion of possible worlds used by logical semantics. In addition to the usual sentence operators of classical logic such as and. Fiction and possible worlds, dolezel proposes a conception of fictional semantics quite different from the view that emerges from lewis analysis of truth in fiction and from its implication, the principle of minimal departure. Possible worlds, artificial intelligence and narrative theory marielaure ryan download bok.
Diane proudfoot, possible worlds semantics and fiction. Logical expressions in logic and philosophy of logic. Mar 02, 2012 in a series of articles starting in 1976 1976a, 1976b and culminating in the 1998 book heterocosmica. Possible world project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read semantic mechanisms of humor. More basically, you can use possible worlds to cash out the idea of an inferences being valid. Possible worlds, artificial intelligence, and narrative theorydecember 1991. In the meantime, philosophers working in formal semantics were making brief allusions to the resemblance of possible worlds to stories adams and to books plantinga as a. Heterocosmica appeared in the wake of a number of other books on the application of possible worlds theory to literary semantics pavel, ronen, maitre, semino, and myself, but none of these books with the possible exception of pavels would have been what it is, nor arguably written at all, without the inspiration provided by dolezels. Impossible worlds stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. On this view possible worlds introduce a new conceptual lexicon.
Click download or read online button to get the last of all possible worlds book now. In heterocosmica, lubommr dolezel offers nothing less than a complete theory of literary fiction based on the idea of possible worlds. In heterocosmica, lubomir dolezel offers nothing less than a complete theory of literary fiction based on the idea of possible worlds. Possible worlds theory and contemporary narratology on jstor. Although possible world has been part of the philosophical lexicon at least since leibniz, the notion became firmly entrenched in contemporary philosophy with the development of possible world semantics for the languages of propositional and firstorder modal logic.
A semantics for modal logic was first introduced in the late1950s work of saul kripke and his colleagues. Dec 06, 2012 semantic mechanisms of humor ebook written by v. Search for literature and possible worlds books in the search form now, download or read books for free, just by creating an account to enter our library. Possible worlds stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Pavel titled possible worlds in literary semantics appeared in the journal ofaesthetics and art criticism.
Its true that, under one understanding of accessibility and determining, your accessibility relation is determined by your axioms. Possibleworlds semantics reveals that possible worlds of fiction and. Ryan applies exotic theories to the study of narrative and fiction, her book maintains a. The need for a semantic model that recognises different propositional modalities was recognised in the early seventies by todorov and bremond.
Dolezels book is the first systematic application of this idea to the theory and. It considers problems in the logic of knowledge, the meaning of alternative logics, models of imagination and mental simulation, the theory of information, truth in fiction, the. Possible worlds the living handbook of narratology. The concept of possible worlds henceforth pw, loosely inspired by leibniz.
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